| German grammar |
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German articles are used similarly to the English articles, a and the. However, they are declined differently according to the number, gender and case of their nouns. [1]
The inflected forms depend on the number, the case and the gender of the corresponding noun. German articles –like adjectives and pronouns –have the same plural forms for all three genders. [2]
This article, ein-, is used equivalently to the word a in English. Like its English equivalent (though unlike Spanish), it has no direct form for a plural; in this situation a range of alternatives such as einige (some; several) or manche (some) would be used. [1]
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ein | eine | ein | - |
| Accusative | einen | eine | ein | - |
| Dative | einem | einer | einem | - |
| Genitive | eines | einer | eines | - |
The same endings are used for the negative indefinite article-like word (kein-), and the adjectival possessive pronouns (alias: possessive adjectives, possessive determiners), mein- (my), dein- (your (singular)), sein- (his), ihr- (her and their), unser- (our), euer/eur- (your (plural)), Ihr- (your if addressing an authority figure, always capitalised). [1]
This table gives endings for the definite article, equivalent to English the.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | den |
| Genitive | des | der | des | der |
The so-called "der words" (Der-Wort) take similar endings. Examples are demonstrative pronouns (dies-, jen-) (this, that), the relative pronoun (welch-) (which), jed- (every), manch- (many), solch- (such). [3]
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -e |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -e |
| Dative | -em | -er | -em | -en |
| Genitive | -es | -er | -es | -er |
For further details as to the usage of German cases, see German grammar.